Chicago: Barnett Capital Moves to Destroy Squat to Make Way for Condos

On Thursday, May 11, residents of West Cermak Rd woke up to six
cops breaking down their door and ordering them onto the ground.
Walking behind them was Steve Mallon, a property manager for Barnett
Capital, a $200 million finance entity that claims to own the
building along with other large holdings in the neighborhood. As our
friends were being handcuffed, Mallon contemptuously stepped over
their necks as if they were trash. This was the climax of a
week-long attempt by Barnett to evict residents using strong-arm tactics.

Since buying the former homeless shelter and apartment building,
Barnett Capital has made repeated violent attempts at driving out
its inhabitants. As a result, we brought new life to the building as
a haven for people in the community who are facing displacement and
eviction. We have worked to transform the building into a
multi-generational space that is home to people of many identities
and backgrounds, in hopes of addressing some fundamental questions
about the enduring legacies of colonialism and how we can change the
way we relate to the land we live on.

As "an alternative investment firm focusing in real estate,
asset-based financing, and equipment leasing", Barnett Capital
is a driving force in the racist process of gentrification currently
facing the working-class communities of Little Village, Pilsen, and
North Lawndale. Their intent is to carry out mass evictions so that
they can demolish or redevelop to make room for luxury condos.
Therefore, our fight to keep the building is a fight against the
daily colonization of urban space and the social dismemberment of
our communities.

Barnett Capital initiated their eviction efforts on April 19,
when they attempted to execute the first in a series of lockouts.
Without bothering to give the legally obligated 48-hour notice, the
company waited until they thought everyone was out of the building
to change the locks. As a result, one of our elders was unable to
access her medication for hours. Despite their flagrant abuse, we
assumed that the company would get in touch with us and serve us
eviction notices.

This never happened. Instead, on May 9, Steve Mallon and his
goons attempted to push residents out using harassment and brute
force. They arrived at 7:00 am with a dumpster and began breaking
down doors with crowbars and sledgehammers, smashing residents’
belongings, removing banisters to impede elderly and disabled
residents from returning to their units, and cutting electric wires
to make apartments appear vacant. The cops, who are obligated in
Chicago to prevent illegal evictions, stood by in their defense.

They returned the next morning like clockwork, breaking into one
of the units, throwing out the belongings of people who were at
work, and drilling pieces of plywood over several doors. They also
broke keys in the doorknobs of three apartments with people inside,
making it impossible for anyone to enter or exit.

The following day, cops broke into one of our apartments without
a warrant and arrested five people. Immediately, community members
flocked to defend the building against further attacks; dropping
banners, barricading doors and passing out flyers to inform
neighbors about the ongoing assault.

This experience has left us with physical and psychological
trauma. We have suffered cuts, bruises, swollen limbs, exacerbated
chronic illnesses, pneumonia, and PTSD after being attacked by cops
and corporate-employed goons.

Despite these intimidations, we feel a sense of power in
defending our home, strengthened by the dozens of comrades who have
answered our call and joined in the standoff against Barnett. We are
continuing to resist daily attacks while struggling to fortify
against invasion. This means constantly replacing door knobs and
locks, repairing and replacing smashed doors, and barricading
vulnerable units, all while working to ensure that everyone has a
safe place to sleep and that no one is left alone.

In addition to dreaming of one day getting wifi and unclogging
the upstairs toilet, we want to continue building our rooftop
garden, running our social center, creating a community tool
library, starting a book club, and making our home into an open
space for creation and movement-building. We are also in the early
stages of planning a federal housing discrimination lawsuit against
Barnett Capital.

Our self-defense will use all available means to push back,
undermine, delegitimize, block and counteract the moves of the
landlords – from physical refusal to legal counteraction. We are
forcing Barnett Capital into litigation not because we believe the
law is an instrument of liberation but because we know that
gentrifying developers and landlords prefer to bypass the legal
process; relying instead on the more convenient tactics of goon
intimidation, harassment and police violence. They want us gone in
the fastest, cheapest way possible. We are ready to fight back. We
are and will continue to defend our home.

Please stand in solidarity with us by calling Barnett Capital at
224-205-7266 or 847-656-1104. We are also currently raising funds for the following immediate needs:

1) materials and supplies to repair broken locks/doors/railings as
well as repairing basic decaying infrastructure in the building

2) printing costs for flyers and supplies for
know-your-tenant’s-rights workshops, skill-shares, street outreach,
and community events

3) court costs for federal, criminal and civil court

4)basic utilities

Join us in our fight against Barnett Capital, Steve Mallon and
gentrification everywhere!

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